DISCLAIMER: I don't own Rose, Scorpius or Pride and Prejudice! Although, since that's public domain, I guess no one owns it ... still, credit due to the forever amazing Jane Austen.

Opposites Attract.

He's just awkwardly confessed his love for her. She's just turned him down. They have nothing in common … he decides to prove her wrong. :Rose/Scorpius, inspired by 'Pride and Prejudice', NextGen:

"Contrary to the popular belief 'opposites attract,' lovers tend to resemble each other … The more alike two people are, the more satisfied they tend to be with their relationship, and the more likely they are to stay together."

(L. E. Berk, 2012, "Infants, Children and Adolescents" page 651).

Chapter 1: Opposites don't work.

"He did what?"

Rose Weasley still wasn't entirely sure what 'what' was. All she knew was that the last ten minutes had been the most awkward of her life! In fact, the sheer embarrassment of it had been enough to drive her out of her own office at the Ministry and to take up hiding in her cousin's, three floors above hers. She turned back to her confidant and best friend, Albus Potter, who was looking rather like the Knight Bus had smashed into him head on.

Yeah, she knew the feeling.

"Scorpius Malfoy," Rose said. "came into my office not ten minutes ago and confessed his love for me."

Albus simply stared for a moment as Rose folded her arms and sat on the edge of her cousin's desk. She was sure that her face had to look about as disgusted as she felt.

"I'm sorry …" he said, shaking his head in disbelief. "You lost me at Scorpius Malfoy."

"I was lost the second he came into my office!"

"We are talking about the bloke who hates you, right?"

"I thought he did!" Rose cried, flinging her arms into the air. Oh c'mon, sometimes life needed a bit of a dramatic flair! If this wasn't the time for it, then when was? "Hell, he's never even said more than ten words to me before today! There's only so many times a bloke can ignore you before you start to get the impression that he doesn't like you!"

Albus just fell against the back of his chair, letting out a long breath. Rose and her cousin had been friends for so long that sometimes, Rose almost forgot that they were related. The two of them had certainly had their ups and downs over the years, but Rose figured that if it weren't for Albus, she would have gone insane a long time ago.

Well, perhaps just more insane than she was now, at any rate.

"Bloody hell," he sighed. "Are you sure he said love–?"

"Oh, I'm quite sure," Rose cut in at once. "He tried to say it again and I had to stop him. Once more would have done my head in!"

"Look, I think you need to back up a bit here, Rose," Albus said then, screwing up his nose in confusion. "What exactly happened?"

Rose considered. "Well …"

Ten minutes ago

Scorpius Malfoy was standing in her office.

Scorpius Malfoy was standing in her office!

What the hell was wrong with this picture?

"Um … can I help you?" Rose asked, staring in shock.

Malfoy shuffled slightly on the spot, staring at his feet. Lanky and blond, Rose didn't think she'd ever seen the man without a tie and sure enough, the one he was wearing today matched his blue shirt. Apart from slightly longer hair and maybe being a bit taller, he looked almost exactly the same as he had when she'd first met him. When he glanced up at her, still sat at her desk across from him, she figured that something downright weird had to be going on. Perhaps she was going mad, or someone had put a curse on her as a practical joke, or hell, maybe an alien brain parasite …?

To say Scorpius Malfoy was pompous was a rather large understatement. Rose had known him since her Hogwarts days and even though they were now both closer to thirty than twenty in age, he hadn't changed one bit. Despite the animosity between their families, Rose hadn't wanted to be so quick to judge the bloke. She'd made several attempts to reach out over the years, starting mainly when they had both left school and, by chance, ended up working in the same department at the Ministry of Magic. Determined to try and see past the cold Malfoy exterior everyone kept talking about, Rose had spent the first few weeks of their working relationship calling out hello every morning.

Every single greeting had been met with stone. Cold. Silence.

Rose hadn't been able to believe it. The man was stuffy, rude, and unbelievably up himself! Granted, he would always answer with a short, polite, "Good morning, Rose," but never anything more. No 'how are you?' or 'how's your work going?'

Just … good morning.

Any other attempts at conversation were knocked down immediately. Most of the time, he wouldn't even answer, he would just stare at her for a moment (probably wondering how this woman dared speak to Mighty Scorpius Malfoy) or else, he would snap out a short retort before storming off.

Rose had given up trying to engage him in conversation roughly six or seven years ago. Now, for reasons unfathomable to her, he was standing in her office, after knocking on her door and asking if they could speak.

She'd said yes, mainly because she'd been too stunned to think of another answer.

She would never understand the bloke! That alien theory was looking more and more likely.

"Is this a good time for us to talk?" he asked, stiffly.

Rose just stared. "I'm supposed to be writing up event plans, but sure, I guess …" she said. "What're you doing here?"

Nothing could have prepared her for his next statement.

"Rose Weasley," he said clearly, looking straight at her. "I came in here to tell you something that I have been struggling with for a long time. I cannot do it anymore, holding it in. I came to tell you that – that I am in love with you."

Well.

… wait, what?

Rose just laughed. "You can't be serious!" she grinned.

Malfoy frowned as he shuffled some more. "I'm afraid to say you're mistaken," he said. "I am quite serious."

"But …"

Hang on.

He wasn't joking. He was staring at her more intently than she'd ever seen him before and he wasn't suddenly laughing as if this were all one huge prank! Actually, when she thought about it, she couldn't have been sure if Malfoy even knew what a joke was!

"Malfoy … you – what?"

"Would you like me to say it again?" he asked.

"What? No!" Rose suddenly yelped, finally letting the statement sink in. She stood up hastily as she felt the colour drain from her face. "No, please, once was quite enough … Malfoy … what the hell are you doing?"

"I thought my intentions were clear from my words?" Malfoy said, starting to look doubtful, his arms moving hesitantly; it was as if he made to fold them, but wasn't exactly sure about what to do with them, so they just ended up swinging at his sides again.

"They were clear, I just don't understand them!"

"I meant that I want to be with you," Malfoy said at once, serious as day. "A … a relationship, if you will …"

"But you HATE me!" Rose cried, leaning her hands on her desk and feeling utterly bewildered.

"What?" Malfoy's eyebrows creased together in genuine confusion. "I don't hate you, Rose – Miss Weasley – whichever you would prefer me to call you. I always responded to your enthusiastic greetings with utmost politeness."

"I know! That's what annoyed me!" Rose said. She was now pretty sure that she had just stepped into a bizarre alternate reality where nothing made sense (oh, and alien parasites feasted on your brains, apparently). She knew for a fact that they were experimenting with something of the sort down in the Department of Mysteries (going out with an Unspeakable for six months was surprisingly satisfying in the information she'd gleaned, though unfortunately hadn't been enough to keep the relationship going), so perhaps her wild theories weren't that far off!

"I … annoy you?" Malfoy asked.

"Malfoy, I tried talking to you every day for the better part of two years!" Rose said in exasperation. "I gave up so long ago because I never got more than a two-word answer! Hell, I even asked you to dance a few times at the department Christmas parties! Not once did you ever attempt to speak to me and you refused to dance every time!"

"I'm afraid that I am not brilliant at dancing," Malfoy seemed to be trying to explain his actions, though Rose wasn't entirely sure you could explain the actions of an emotionless rock. "I remember the moments you are speaking of. I am sorry if my actions at all offended you. I …" He shoved his hands into his pockets, awkwardly. "I don't enjoy crowds, or talking to people I don't know. Speaking at all in general makes me feel uncomfortable."

"Then why didn't you just explain that?" Rose asked.

"Because I knew you would not understand," Malfoy said.

"I'm sorry, what?" Rose said. Malfoy clearly regretted his words, but didn't seem willing to take them back, which prompted Rose to add, "Malfoy, I'd think really carefully about how you continue that statement …"

"I just mean," he said, hastily. "You are Rose Weasley, who loves to talk. You work the crowd like magic, so much that sometimes, I believe you really have used magic! While it's honestly amazing to see sometimes, quite frankly, it tires me to just watch you."

"You can't be serious?" Rose tried to keep the indignation out of her voice, but it was proving extremely difficult. "Just because I'm a social person doesn't mean that I don't understand how other people work! You could have just given me a chance!"

"Are you saying that you would have given me a chance?"

"I don't know!" Rose cried. This was just unbelievable. "Maybe, if you'd actually attempted to get to know me!"

"But I do know you!" Malfoy said, quickly. His eyes were wide now, as if considering a quite frightening future. "I have known you for years now and I know you well! You enjoy social events, and I was afraid that you wouldn't have understood, that you would have asked me to come with you to parties and concerts and other social gatherings that sets my teeth on edge. Honestly, the thought is still terrifying, but–"

"How could you even think I would do such a thing?" Rose cried, trying to supress the urge to smack him.

"I am just making a judgement, based on your character–"

"My character? Who the hell are you to judge me?" Rose yelled. "And for god's sake, who TALKS like that? What is this, the eighteenth century?!"

"Do you …" Malfoy paused as he stared at her helplessly. "Rose, do you hate me?"

"Hate? I don't …" Rose didn't know what the hell to think. Scorpius Malfoy was standing in her office, trying to justify the way he'd acted towards her all these years, and all she could do was wonder why on earth he hadn't just had faith in her to take his feelings into account. Hell, she was a good person, right? She would have understood! … well, at least she hoped that she would have.

"Malfoy," Rose sighed, gripping the edge of her desk tightly. "if you had just explained to me how you aren't good at relating to people, I might not have thought about how – I don't know – how rude you are? How condescending, arrogant and yeah, you think you're better than everyone else!" Rose added, pointing at him accusingly. "You would stare at me like you had much better things to do than to force conversation with an annoying girl who never shuts up!"

"I never said that you never shut up–"

"You implied it!"

"I …" Malfoy rubbed his eyes warily. Then, he glanced back up at her with an almost hopeless expression. It was something she hadn't ever seen before in his face (though really that wasn't a difficult feat, since she didn't think she'd ever seen any expression on his face other than blank). Though honestly … it kind of softened her. If what he said was true, then she had just yelled at the poor bloke after he'd pushed away every natural instinct to come and confess to her …

"Is this your answer?" he asked, quietly. "Are you rejecting me?"

"Malfoy …" Rose said, choosing to stare at the random trinkets on her desk, rather than at Malfoy's face. It was much easier to concentrate on the miniature elephant that James had bought her from Thailand than this eyes. "Just think about it … we have absolutely nothing in common. You're quiet, though I think I'm probably the loudest person you'll ever meet! You hate crowds, and I love meeting new people! If I like someone, I tell them the first chance I can get. You waited, what, six years to tell me this?"

"Seven," Malfoy nodded, though he looked incredibly resigned. "The moment you started working here when we were nineteen."

"Oh, hell, Malfoy," Rose muttered, rubbing her forehead. She hated this. She hated making people feel unhappy, but what choice did she have? "Look, you have to know, this could never work."

"Why not?"

"Because!" she cried, trying not to get exasperated. "I've just pointed out all the reasons! We're too different!"

"I like to believe it is our differences that will keep us guessing and wanting to find out more about each other," Malfoy said, a slight smile coming to his face. Oh, Merlin. "Rose–"

"Malfoy, I'm saying no."

That statement might have obviously been coming from the way the conversation had gone, but it was clear that Malfoy had been trying to avoid hearing it. Naturally, when the words blurted from her mouth, the smile fell completely (that is, if she could call it a smile; it was more a contortion of the face).

"I … I am sorry to hear that," Malfoy muttered, talking to the floor now. "I will … respect your answer, of course. Sorry to have wasted your time."

He hovered for a moment, as if unsure whether to move or not. Then, just as Rose made to step around her desk (to do what, she wasn't entirely sure of), he leapt into action and awkwardly strode for the door.

Good lord …

Present

"… did that actually happen?" Albus gasped.

"That's exactly what I thought the second he'd closed the door behind him!" Rose cried.

Albus looked more and more stunned by the second as Rose had recounted her story. Now, however, he just seemed slightly disgusted.

"Did he seriously think that you were going to go for him?" he snorted.

"Hey! I kind of felt sorry for him," Rose admitted.

"But there was no way you were actually going to say yes," Albus put in, swinging on his chair as Rose still sat next to him on his desk. "C'mon," he grinned. "You used to complain about him all the time when he'd ignore you!"

"God, I don't know anymore, Al," Rose huffed. "I mean, yeah, he's good-looking and all, and I'll admit that I might have liked him a little back then when we first started working together. It was probably why I was so hurt when he ignored me. But we can't just forget the fact that he did, and that he was horrible to me for years on end."

"Aw, but he was just trying to be friendly!"

"Albus, you aren't helping."

"Who said I was trying to be helpful?" Albus smirked. Rose leaned forward and smacked him round the head for that one.

"Even if I could forget the fact that he is useless at interacting with other human beings," Rose continued, shooting her friend a withering look. "We're just far too different! There's no possible way we could work–"

"Um, Mr Potter?" A voice came from the doorway and both cousins turned to see a mousey-haired receptionist sticking her head in around the door. She held a clipboard in her hands and had several interdepartmental memos floating around her head. "Oh! Miss Weasley! Lovely to see you up here again! Mr Potter, do you happen to know a–" She glanced down at her clipboard. "–Scorpius Malfoy?"

"Uh, I more know of him … why?"

"He's sort of asking to come see you," the receptionist said.

Rose's eyes went wide. "Oh my god!" she cried. "He's following me! How does he know?!"

"Rose, I don't think – whoa!" he yelped, pushing his chair backwards and out of the way as Rose made a flying leap for under his desk. The receptionist watched in bemusement as there came a load of thumping and swearing as Rose tried to fit under the desk amongst all of Albus's unfinished paperwork.

"… I take it you want me to send him away?" the receptionist asked.

"I think that would be best!" Rose's disembodied voice called out.

"Actually," Albus' smirk could practically be heard. "Send him in."

"ALBUS!" Rose yelled, smacking her cousin on the leg as the receptionist hesitantly moved back into the corridor outside of his office. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I want to know why he's coming to see me!"

"Did you not hear the story? He's practically stalking me!"

"I seriously doubt he's stalking you, Rose, I just want to hear what he has to say–"

"Mr Potter? Is this a bad time?" Good Merlin, that was his voice. Rose couldn't see him under this cramped desk, but she could imagine it quite plainly: Malfoy standing upright and uncomfortable in the doorway while she was crushed under the desk with her knees up her nose. Her only company at the moment was her cousin's lanky legs, piles of useless books, unfilled parchment, and what was probably several large spiders.

Albus, the traitor, answered, "Not at all! Come in! What can I do for you?"

"What are you doing?" Rose hissed again.

"Patience, dear cousin," Albus whispered back.

"I don't have patience!"

She heard footsteps and the scrape of the visitor's chair being sat down on. Then, trying hard not to panic, Rose listened as Malfoy said, "Erm … I am sorry for the intrusion. You are probably wondering why I requested to see you, seeing as we have never spoken before."

"Oh, it's fine," Rose could see the smirk on Albus' face. "In fact, I had a feeling I'd be seeing you around."

"You … did?"

"Oh, yes, my cousin talks quite a lot about you!" Albus continued, cheerfully. What the hell, Albus?! "Her name's Rose, I think she works in the same department as you, perhaps you know her–? OUCH!" he suddenly added when Rose pinched the skin of his leg.

"I … I know her," Malfoy said, apparently deciding to pass off Albus's yelp and clearly uncomfortable with the situation. Rose could relate. "She's actually the reason I came to speak with you. I understand that the two of you are quite close."

"Oh, quite," Albus agreed. "Our mothers were pregnant at the same time, so we were basically destined to be best friends since we were foetuses."

"Ah. That is good, I suppose," Malfoy said.

This was just bizarre. When Rose had woken up this morning, she'd had no idea that she would spend a better part of her day either turning down awkward love confessions, or hiding under desks! Things like this just didn't happen to her. She was Rose Weasley, who led a more or less exciting life as a member of the International Events Committee. Sure, she was 27 and still single, but it hadn't been for the lack of trying! Rose had been relatively happy with her life up until this point.

How had Scorpius Malfoy managed to turn it all upside down in less than fifteen minutes?

"Look, no offence, mate," Albus said after a moment's pause. "But I am sort of supposed to be working, so if you've got something to say …?"

"Yes," Malfoy said at once. "I was wondering if you knew what kinds of things Rose likes?"

Albus didn't say anything for a long moment and Rose didn't blame him. Um, what?

"Pardon?"

"Rose," Malfoy reiterated. "What does she like?"

"Why?"

"Um …" Malfoy coughed awkwardly and Rose had to pinch Albus again for that comment. He knew exactly why he wanted to know and now he was just being antagonistic! "Well, it has recently come to my attention that Rose and I don't have a lot in common. I was hoping that you could enlighten me to what she likes, so I could more easily get to know her."

"And why would you want to get to know her?" Albus had that shit-eating smirk again and Rose rolled her eyes, supressing the urge to smack her head against the side of the desk.

For a long time, Rose wasn't sure if Malfoy was even going to answer. Then, right when she thought he would start muttering 'er's and 'ah's again, he suddenly blurted out,

"Because I'm in love with her."

That simple statement sent Rose's heart racing. It was only six words, but they had the ability to turn her entire world upside down. For all his faults, Scorpius Malfoy said that with absolute dedication. There was no waver in his voice, no hesitation. It was strong, certain, and Rose felt every inch of it … he was in love with her.

Merlin's pants, this was an absolute nightmare! Pretty soon, the entire bloody Ministry was going to know about this and that certainly included her mother. God help her if she thought she could escape the tirade that was Hermione Weasley! If there was anyone who was unhappy with the – er – reasonably exciting life that Rose led, it was her, mainly because it meant that Rose was yet to find a loving, rich husband to settle down and have a million children with.

"You're serious, aren't you?" Albus said, almost laughing.

"Quite," Malfoy answered. "However, when I told her, she didn't seem to take it too well."

"She yelled didn't she?"

"Quite loudly."

"Yeeeeah, that doesn't surprise me," Albus answered. What was he waiting for? Just send the bloke out already! "Look, mate. Getting to know Rose is a serious business. Are you sure that you really want to try and handle this? Once you're in, you can't get out."

"I am absolutely sure," Malfoy answered.

"Hmm …" Was her cousin was actually considering? "In that case … first thing to keep in mind: she loves cupcakes. Seriously, one bite will have her in cupcake nirvana. Her favourite flowers are daffodils, get her roses and she will smack you. She absolutely loves the sun and if you even mention a holiday to the snow, she'll – SHIT! GODDAMN – AHHH!"

Albus had cried out thanks to a very well-placed kick on Rose's behalf. As he cringed in his seat, Rose figured that Malfoy had to be witnessing the very odd end of the scenario.

"Are … are you quite all right?" Malfoy asked hesitantly, apparently unable to ignore this one.

"Oh, yes!" Albus gasped, shooting Rose a glare from under the desk. "Never better! What the hell, Rose?" he added.

"What're you doing?"

"Giving him the opportunity – shall I continue?" Albus switched back to a normal, if slightly higher pitched, voice as he gingerly let go of himself to hold onto the edge of his desk with one hand. With the other, Rose found herself in a slapping fight as she tried to fend off his other hand from punching her.

"Um … if you don't mind?"

"All right then!" Albus said, happily. Smack, smack. "Rose loves her friends and family. Talk badly about any of them and she will scratch your eyes right out! I hope you're not camera shy, because she never stops taking photos. She's bright and she just cares about people, even if she's never met them before. She's the kind of girl who believes in miracles and fate and that kind of thing. Oh! She's obsessed period drama. Like seriously, if it took place a hundred years ago, she's totally into it. You may have also noticed that Rose Weasley is gorgeous, but while she knows that she's not a hideous troll, I don't think she's ever believed that she's stunningly beautiful. Ooh, she likes dogs! Is any of this helping?"

"Remarkably," Malfoy answered.

"So what exactly do you plan to do with all this information?"

"Honestly?" Malfoy paused for a moment as she heard his chair scrape again. Rose shoved Albus' punching hand away as she guessed that he'd stood. "I will try and show her that we are not so different."

"Sounds like a plan," Albus grinned. "Want me to tell her that for you?"

"No, it's ok," Malfoy said. "I can tell her myself … Rose?" he suddenly called and Rose practically jumped a mile from under the desk. "Just letting you know … I am going to prove to you that we would be good together. I hope you are not too uncomfortable underneath that desk. Have a good day."

And the closing of the door told her that he had left.

"Well!" Albus said, kicking back his chair so he could better see Rose's panicked look under the desk. "That was illuminating! I give you a week before you cave and go out with him."

A/N: So I own the text book referenced at the beginning of this story and I was reading it (ever proof that I did actually study when I was at university) when I came across that particular quote. I nearly died laughing since, in my eyes, Rose and Scorpius completely defy that quote (along with many other fictional couples like, ahem, Darcy and Elizabeth).

My current obsession at the time of writing this (like, 2013ish) was Pride and Prejudice, in basically any shape or form, so this story is very heavily inspired by it. You can see it in the Darcy-Scorpius, Lizzy-Rose and the fact that we've begun with an infamous (and equally disastorous) Hunsford Proposal. The theme continues throughout the story and though it's not a direct re-telling, I hope you will all still like it. :)

I have missed my little fanfiction life terribly, along with all of you who read my stories, so I definitely can't wait to get into this! I also decided to post this today, because (*coughcough*) it happens to be my 23rd birthday and it seemed like a cause for celebration! :D

Please let me know your thoughts! I hope you all enjoyed it.

Until next time -

- Moon. :D